A shocking case of sexual abuse scandal has come to light in the Qayyumabad area of Karachi.
The 28-year-old accused, Shabir Ahmad Tanoli, has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing more than 100 minor girls (ages 5 to 13), recording videos of the incidents and continuing the crimes in a systematic manner.
The accused is a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Abbottabad district.
He confessed to his crimes during interrogation and according to the police, the case is one of the biggest and most heinous sex scandals in Karachi’s history, affecting at least 70 to 100 families.
The crimes, which have been going on for the past 10 years, came to light with the courage of one of the victims when she stole a USB from the accused’s house and took it to a local shop.
Over the past week, four separate cases have been registered against the Shabir Ahmad Tanoli and the court has handed him over to the police on a five-day physical remand.
The defence police detained the accused from Qayyumabad’s B-area with the help of locals, where he was also tortured by the residents of the area after being caught near the Osmania Mosque.
SSP South Mahzoor Ali and DIG South Syed Asad Raza said in a joint press conference that the Shabir Ahmad Tanoli moved to Karachi from Abbottabad in 2011 and initially lived in Neelam Colony, where one of his friends Asif (who died in a traffic accident in 2016) implicated him in child rape crimes.
After leaving Neelam Colony and moving to Qayyumabad in 2016, the accused rented a room and a shop and started dealing in syrup / juice. He lured or threatened the children who came to his house for a few hundred rupees and took them to his quarters where he lived alone and raped them by closing the door.
Police have recovered a mobile phone, a USB drive and a diary containing the names of the victims, ages, ethnicity details and dates of the incidents. Between 100 and 400 indecent videos and images have been recovered from mobile and USB, some of which date back to 2017. Most of them were recorded between 2019 and 2024.
All the material has been sent for forensic analysis and police say more victims are being identified with the help of these videos.
How did the case come about?
The horrific case came to light when a 7-year-old victim stole a USB drive from the accused’s quarter and took it with her. The girl took the USB to a neighborhood store and tried to download movies or plays. The shopkeeper checked the USB and found about 200 videos of child abuse, some of which included the girl herself.
The shopkeeper immediately informed the assembled mohalla about the matter and identified the accused who was known as a sherbet vendor. Locals caught hold of the accused and handed him over to the police.
SHO Defence Ghulam Nabi Afridi said that if this little girl had not stolen the USB and had not brought it for the movie transfer, God knows how long these heinous crimes would have remained hidden.
The police immediately swung into action and recovered more evidence from the house of the accused.
Details of the victims’ complaints and cases
Over the past week, four FIRs have been registered against the accused under Section 376 (punishment for rape) and Section 376 (3) (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code. Initial complaints suggest that the accused would approach the children of the area in the guise of juice or syrup on his contract and then take them to his house No. 1, Sector Qayyumabad (Korangi Road) or quarters located in Gali No. 18, C-Area.
The parents of the victims filed reports at the Police Station Defense, the detailed summary of which is as follows.
The first complaint (dated September 2, 2025) is an employee at a residential kabadi shop. He said that his 10-year-old daughter (K) and 12-year-old daughter (P) were upset for several days and complained of severe pain at the urinary site. The girls told their mother that Shabbir, who lives in the street in front of the Osmania Mosque, is the one who makes the syrup.
He misbehaves with them and also makes videos. Shabir Ahmad Tanoli raped the 10-year-old girl in his house at 12: 30 pm on September 2, 2025. SHO in-charge Mohammad Naveed confirmed the report and registered a case.
The second complaint (dated May 18, 2022, latest report 2025) is of a poor labourer who works in a private job.
He said that his 15-year-old son (now a student of Class 8) was taken to the house of Shabbir Ul Shafi (Shabbir Tanoli) at the age of 12 in 2022, at house number 1, Sector Qayyumabad, where he was subjected to manual scavenging. Due to poverty, the report was not made on time but now the accused has been identified. The father identified the suspect.
Third complaint (dated September 4, 2025) A worker who works in color He said his 7-year-old daughter (K) went out of the house at 8 pm on September 4, 2025, and complained of gum numbness and body ache for a week after returning. The girl told her mother that the boy who spiked the juice does dirty work with her.
The father took the girl to Gali No. 18, C-Area, where the girl identified the accused’s house (locked). According to the police, the accused has been identified as Shabir Ahmed. The case was registered.
Fourth complaint: The family of another 10-year-old girl filed a complaint that she was also raped by the accused. So far, at least five families have formalized.
The suspect’s background, confessions, and possible network
Shabir Ahmed Tanoli is the son of Mohammed Shafiq. He was unmarried and lived alone. During interrogation, the accused confessed that for the last 10 years (since 2016), he used to rape and make videos of girls between the ages of 5 and 12 by giving them 100 to 500 rupees or by threatening them.
It noted details of about 70 to 85 victims in a diary, including names, ages and ethnic backgrounds.
The accused said that he was given this habit by his deceased friend Asif, who had died in a traffic accident. SSP South Mahzoor Ali said that the accused said in the preliminary investigation that he had raped 60-70 girls of the area and forensic analysis was underway.
Police suspect that the accused might be connected to the dark web. where the videos are sold. Because no laptop or computer was found with him, which indicates that other people may also be involved.
Police officials said that the accused raped the girls of poor families by downing the shutters of the shop by luring them with less money and all the evidence has been preserved.
A medical examination is being conducted and no stone will be left unturned to punish the culprit. DIG South Syed Asad Raza described the accused as one of the worst sex offenders in Karachi and said that the investigation is ongoing. More revelations are expected.
